NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The man authorities believe was responsible for setting off a Christmas Day bomb that injured three people and damaged dozens of buildings in downtown Nashville told a neighbor days before the explosion that “Nashville and the world is never going to forget me.”
Rick Laude said he saw Anthony Quinn Warner standing at his mailbox on Dec. 21 and pulled over in his car to speak with him. After asking how Warner’s elderly mother was doing, Laude said he casually asked him, “Is Santa going to bring you anything good for Christmas?” Laude said Warner smiled and then said, “Oh, yeah, Nashville and the world is never going to forget me.”
Laude, 57, a commercial truck driver, said he didn’t think much of the remark and thought Warner only meant that “something good” was going to happen for him. He said he was “speechless” later when he read that authorities had identified Warner as the suspected bomber.
“Nothing about this guy raised any red flags,” Laude said. “He was just quiet.”
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Balsamo and Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Scott Stroud and Mark Humphrey in Nashville contributed to this report.
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